The Way I See It is a blog published at least three times a week containing thoughts and analysis and irreverent musings on the local, state, and national sports world.

Missouri wins, but some local fans don't get to see it

About this blog

By Dennis Miller

My name is Dennis Miller and I am a lifelong resident of Kirksville, MO. I have been totally blind since birth and a sports fanatic just as long. I like all sports but love baseball and am a proud lifelong member of Cardinal Nation. It is my honor
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My name is Dennis Miller and I am a lifelong resident of Kirksville, MO. I have been totally blind since birth and a sports fanatic just as long. I like all sports but love baseball and am a proud lifelong member of Cardinal Nation. It is my honor to be given the opportunity to write a blog for the Kirksville Daily Express and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.

The Missouri Tigers opened up SEC conference tournament play last night with an easy victory over Texas AandM. The Tigers led the game from start to finish and were really never challenged at any point during the game. I can’t recall becoming annoyed at Phil Pressey at any time during the game which shows you how good Missouri played. Things get a little tougher tonight as they face Ole Miss for the third time this year. The two teams have split their first two games with both teams winning in dominating fashion on their home floor. It will be interesting to see the two teams play on a neutral court. I should say hear how the two teams play on a neutral court because unless you took out a second mortgage on the house and purchased ESPN’s Full Court package of college basketball games you are not likely to be watching Missouri’s game tonight and weren’t able to watch last night’s game either. ESPNU is showing every SEC tournament game today except for one, tonight’s Missouri game. If Missouri can get past Ole Miss tonight then the rest of their games will be on TV locally on KTVO but tonight most of us are stuck with listening to the game on the radio as Mr. Excitement Mike Kelly and Gary Link have the call. According to them Missouri never makes a mistake and Phil Pressey is the greatest player alive. I was shocked that they actually acknowledge the fact he put up an air ball at the end of the game against Tennessee.

Most of the “experts” are projecting Missouri as a no. 8 seed in the NCAA tournament but cant’ agree on what region they will be playing in. Missouri could move up higher if they can win the SEC tournament but I really don’t know how much higher since the SEC is down this year and Florida who has been the top team in the SEC all year struggled at the end of the season including losing their last game to Kentucky and also losing at Missouri.

The St. Louis Cardinals are halfway through spring training and things are going about as well as could be expected. There are still some questions that need to be answered but several young arms have had very good springs and there is quite a battle going on for the fifth starter between Joe Kelly and Shelby Miller. Kelly has put up the better numbers this spring while Miller has struggled with control at various times but has loads of potential. Another pitcher who will make an impact sooner rather than later is Michael Wacha who was the Cardinals first round pick in last year’s draft. Wacha will start the year in the minors most likely at Triple A Memphis but I would not be at all surprised to see him take the mound at Busch Stadium at some point this year. All reports indicate that Matt Carpenter has adjusted well to second base and is being counted on to play there a lot this season. The Cardinals still have Daniel Descalso who can play all the infield positions and is thus a very valuable asset given Carpenter’s inexperience at second and the uncertainty at shortstop especially if Pete Kozma falters. Jaime Garcia has shown improvement as he recovers from last season’s shoulder injury and is considered to be ready to start the season in the starting rotation.

The Kansas City Royals continue to show great offensive potential as they have put up some very lofty numbers so far this spring. Their pitching hasn’t been quite what they were hoping for but it’s still early yet and they will get there. I really think the Royals and Tigers will be battling for the NL Central lead throughout this year with the Cleveland Indians also being right there.

We’ll be back on Monday with a look back at all this weekend’s sports action plus a look ahead to what’s coming up next week. Thanks as always for reading this blog and please check out all the blogs on this site.
Have a terrific weekend!